RIGA, Dec 16 (LETA) - In the first ten months of this year, the number of guest nights at Latvia's tourist accommodation establishments grew by 6.3 percent against the same period a year ago to 4.062 million guest nights, according to the data released by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB).

The number of nights spent by non-resident guests grew by 8.9 percent year-on-year to 2.451 million in January-October 2024, while the number of resident guest nights rose 2.6 percent year-on-year to 1.611.

In the first ten months of the year the Latvian tourist accommodation establishments received 2.34 million guests, an increase of 10.7 percent against the same period a year ago. The number of non-resident guests grew by 13.9 percent to 1.373 million people, while the number of resident guests rose by 6.5 percent to 967,100 people.

Compared to the first ten months of the pre-pandemic year 2019, the total number of tourists at Latvia's tourist accommodation establishments was still 5.8 percent lower in the first ten months of this year. The number of non-resident guests was 19.3 percent lower than in January-October 2019, whereas the number of resident guests was 23.5 percent higher. The number of guest nights, meanwhile, was 15 percent below the figure recorded in January-October 2019, with the number of nights spent by foreign guests falling 26.8 percent short.

In October 2024 the number of non-resident and resident visitors at Latvia's tourist accommodation establishments totaled 197,600, which is 12.2 percent more than in October 2023. The number of non-resident guests grew 18 percent year-on-year to 119,100 people, while the number of resident guests rose 4.6 percent to 78,500 people.

The average number of non-resident guest nights was 1.8 night this past October, down from 1.9 nights in October 2023, while resident gusts' average length of stay was 1.6 nights, down from 1.7 nights a year ago.

The majority of non-resident visitors came from Lithuania (16,900), Estonia (14,000), Germany (11,100), United Kingdom (7,600), Finland (7,400), Spain (5,300), Poland (5,300), Sweden (5,100), US (4,900) and Norway (4,400).

Most non-resident visitors were hosted in Riga - 81.5 percent, Jurmala - 5 percent, Marupe municipality - 3.1 percent, Liepaja - 2.4 percent and Sigulda municipality - 1.2 percent.

Mostly residents stayed in Riga (30.5 percent), Jurmala (11.5 percent), Liepaja (7.1 percent), Sigulda municipality (4.7 percent), Daugavpils (4 percent), Cesis municipality (4 percent) and Valmiera municipality (3.1 percent).

The average room occupancy rate of hotels and similar accommodation in Latvia was 41.2 percent in October, a drop of 0.7 percentage points compared to October last year. In Riga the occupancy rate was 52.5 percent, an increase of 0.7 percentage points compared to October last year.